Thursday, 31 December 2009

As part of my introduction as December's Featured Stamper I had to answer a few questions about my love of PTI and stamping, and one of them asked for a favourite colour combo. I mentioned a card I had recently done which featured Vintage Cream, Spring Moss, Melon Berry, Kraft and Plum Pudding, and I promised that although it sounded overwhelming that it really works! So I thought I had finally better share that card with you, and how it gave me inspiration to create a whole set of cards with the same themes and colours - something I've never done before! All of the cards featured Tea for Two, which I just completely fell for when I was using it!

So, here is the first card featuring that colour combo:See, I told you the combo works! As long as you keep the balance of the amount of colour and how it's featured I think it's quite possible to use 3, 4 or even 5 colours on one card successfully!

The background pattern was created with Giga Guidelines, with the medallions embossed with my matt clear embossing powder. I love this stuff! The Plum Pudding strip is again a scrap from a previous card, again showing that scraps are worth saving in my opinion, no matter how small!Just one last design detail for this card before I move onto the others - I used two loops of ribbon but for interest I had one behind all the layers and one overlapping between layers. I think it adds a nice bit of interest!

I was so in love with this card when I made it that I even almost took it to work with me the next day so I could keep staring at it, lol! I didn't though!

So, seeing as I loved the colour combo so much I decided to create a whole set of cards along the same lines. On some cards I added are Dark Chocolate as well, just to add a bit of contrast/difference. Here they all are:Don't they all work so well together as a complimentary set?! I added some other sets into the mix as well, with Background Basics: Diamonds, Turning a New Leaf, Signature Greetings and Polka Dot Basics II (on the Twill Ribbon) all making an appearance! The rhinestones were all coloured with Copics to match the colour scheme, and you'll see that my favourite Martha Stewart Punch was used a few times too!

I was going to create a Keeping Tabs gift box for all of these but I just couldn't get my printer to play ball with my PTIcardstock! Next year will be a different story though - I've bought a Cricut Expression so I'll be able to cut out the templates once they've been switched over .svg (or if I can figure out how to do it myself, lol).

So what do you think of all of these? Do you have a favourite? Can you even pick a favourite?! lol, I can't, I love almost every detail of every one! I've definitely found a colour combo that I really love. I can't wait for the reformulated Melon Berry ink - then it will match all the other Melon Berry elements even better!

I'd just like to take this opportunity to thank Kate and Aimes for allowing me to be December's Featured Stamper. I've had a real blast, not only with the challenges and the posts, but also working with girls, it's been a real pleasure! And to the rest of you I'd like to wish you all the very best for a peaceful and prosperous New Year.

Tuesday, 29 December 2009

Time to kick-start the creative mojo after indulging way too much over the festive season! Sorry this challenge is set a little later than normal - it's taken me ages to get off the sofa after scoffing so much LOL!!

So for this challenge we want you to think about stars. We'd love to see stars featured on your projects - it could be one star or many stars and can be for ANY occasion! Don't limit yourself to just star stamps though - you could think about die-cutting, a star shaped card, star patterned DP etc...In fact, don't just limit yourself to a card! You could create a tag, a box, anything so long as it features a star!

So here's my example:Completely threw myself outta my comfort zone with this - still unsure about it! I'm not sure if you can tell that the DP is from my Bitty Stars Basics pack so I've got stars featuring twice (I'm sure you can't miss the big star ;D)

Kate has finally found her camera cable - hurrah! So although she can now upload her amazing creations - she's now jetting off to America for a couple of weeks! Lucky thing! This means that she's a little busy at the mo enjoying herself in much higher temperatures than here! Though fear not, she'll be back soon!

Our Guest Stamper Taheerah has provided us with this lovely example too! I'm really impressed that she didn't make a dash for the Star Prints set as I know it's one we both love soooooo much!Thanks Taheerah for providing us with some fabulous examples for our challenges this month!Card Recipe

Friday, 25 December 2009

Today I have one of my favourite Christmas cards that I created this year. It's about as CAS as I'm likely to get, but there's still a lot of work and detail that went into it.

Isn't that Father Christmas adorable?! He is of course from Holiday Button Bits. I stamped him on Stamper's Select White cardstock using Memento Tuxedo Black and coloured him with Copics. I think this is some of my best Copics colouring to date!

I used a snow pen to add some puffy fluffy detail to his beard, hat and suit. His head was stamped again and cut out to be adhered on top of the button.

Speaking of the button, have you ever seen a more perfect button for a Santa belly?! That was the only button in my Pure Poppy stash that had metal button holes! Very lucky find!! I added a small strip of True Black cardstock for his belt and drew on the silver buckle with a silver Sakura PenTouch pen. I used a black Copic to carry on the belt detail on the button.

I cut out the Santa using my Mega Curved Rectangle Nestabilities. I used the same die and drew around the outside edge on a piece of Smokey Shadow cardstock left over from one of my previous cards (it has a Guidlines II pattern stamped on it but doesn't show up in the photos). I cut the shape out by hand and adhered behind the white shape with Pinflair Glue Gel for dimension.

I kept the rest of the card simple - square base (think it was 4 1/2" x 4 1/2") in Stamper's Select White, with a Pure Poppy mat, edged with True Black ink. The sentiment is stamped in Black Versafine.

So what do you think? Isn't he just the cutest?! Holiday Button Bits was definitely one of the best Papertrey sets I purchased for Christmas cards - everyone loved the cards made with it and I'm sure you can see why!!

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas Day and wish you all the best for the coming New Year!!

Thursday, 24 December 2009

Hope y'all ready for the big day?! I'm ready but not in the right place! Weather conditions haven't improved so we figured it best to hang tight and travel to see the family when it's safe to do so!

So with none of my Mum's famous Maids of Honours to scoff on, I figured I'd share some Christmas cards with you:A pretty simple design but the only way I've found I can use this particular pattern of DP - it's like a diva demanding the full attention of the card and not too many embellishments stealing its spotlight LOL!

I can't mass produce cards (my brain gets way too bored!) so only made 4 but even then had to mix things up a little with the ribbon and buttons!So firstly ripe avocado ribbon and a pure poppy button:

Wednesday, 23 December 2009

Happy eve of Christmas Eve! So have you got everything done? Cards sent, presents bought and wrapped, baking done so you can put your feet up and relax for the next few days??!!! I most definitely haven't lol!

Here's a bunch of Christmas cards I made with the fabulous Holiday Button Bits set - isn't this gingerbread guy just too adorable?!

The flourishes on the base layer were stamped with Versamark Dazzle ink, giving them a nice shimmer :)

Monday, 21 December 2009

Hi everyone! I hope you're all enjoying the mad run up to Christmas! Apologies for the lack of posts on here recently - like everyone else Aimes and I are both snowed under with Christmas prep but I hope to have a few more cards to show on here as soon as I can find my elusive camera cable!

We just wanted to update you on the ATC swap situation - we're still waiting for ATCs from two people, but as we really can't wait any longer for them we're now going to go ahead and send all the ones we have out. A big thanks to Dawn for doing this - they may even be with you by Christmas, but if not what a lovely package you'll have to open next week!

Monday, 14 December 2009

Welcome to another challenge - I hope with all the festive madness you might be able to take a break from it all and stamp something!

Today's challenge is all about the men in our lives because we want you to make a masculine card, can be any themed card - Christmas, birthday etc - and must include at least one PTI product.

I have made a card for the challenge, but now can't find my cable to upload it to my computer!! So you'll have to bear with me until I find it!

Here is Aimes' sample:

"Well whilst the Christmas stamps are well and truly inked up I thought it best to make my masculine card a Christmas one! This one will most probably go to my honey - he loves green (just like me!)""I even created coordinating ribbon twine to coordinate by dragging some white twine through a smokey shadow ink cube. Just be sure to wash your fingers after as it's very messy!"

Friday, 11 December 2009

We're into the full swing of the festive season now so I'm busy beyond belief! Apologies for my lack of posts recently!

Tonight I'm out for a few Christmas drinks with my work colleagues and as always there's a secret Santa. This year we've decided to just buy any old gift and have a lucky dip rather than buying for someone specifically. Now I prefer to do the latter, but as some people ended up without gifts last year (due to the winter lurgy!) I guess this way everyone gets a guaranteed pressie!

So what a perfect opportunity to play with the secret Santa stamp out of PTI's Stocking Prints! I think most of my colleagues will know that this gift is courtesy of me, but lucky for me I picked a nice gift. Don't tell anyone, but it's a scrummy cinnamon soap I picked up at market stall at Covent Garden last weekend! I normally like to buy something really silly but the I just know it'd be my luck for my boss to pick it and for me to be summoned to their office on Monday morning LOL!I also decorated both the tissue paper and the ribbon using the sweet snowflakes from PTI's Holiday Tree! I love, love, LOVE the effect of stamping onto ribbon - it takes a while but it's totally worth it!RecipeStamps - Stocking Prints/Holiday Tree Ink - Spring Rain Card - Stampers' Select White/Spring Rain Accessories - Cuttlebug/Nestabilities/Vintage Cream Satin Ribbon/Martha Stewart Border Punch

Now then, would it be totally wrong if I picked this present outta the tub for myself...? LOL!

Tuesday, 1 December 2009

OK so we know that it's a busy time for everyone at the mo, so we've tried to make this challenge one that's so easy to play along with that you'll probably do it without realising it LOL!!

For this challenge we want to see creations featuring a Christmas tree! For those of you who attended the most amazing weekend ever (Steph's PTI Make and Take), this challenge is one you've already got a card for so feel free to enter it!

Here's my take on the challenge featuring my fave lil' tree of the moment:

I'm still recovering from the most wonderful weekend at Steph's! Well I have no voice which shows how much chatting we all did LOL!

So a new month, a new (well kinda new) feature for our PTI blog! We're really excited to be now featuring a guest stamper every month! Our guest stamper will be with us for the whole month and not only get to share their wonderful creations with us, but also take part in providing examples for our challenges that month!

So without further ado, our featured stamper for December is......

Taheerah!

We wanted to get to know Taheerah a little better so asked her a few questions, including some real toughies LOL!

How did you get into papercrafting?

I’ve always been creative in one form or another but my creations with paper and card had never ventured into actual cardmaking itself! It came about quite by accident actually – I had some extra holidays in December last year that I had to take, and while I was at home I just happened to flick on to QVC and the next show just happened to be papercrafting! They were showing a Christmas Card kit and I thought it might be fun to create some of my own cards for last Christmas, so I bought the kit to try it out. Little did I know how hooked I would become on cardmaking and that it would lead me to finding a whole other world in stamping and PTI!

How long have you been stamping for?

I’ve only been stamping since around February or March really. I always told myself I’d never get into stamping, lol! The cards with stamping that I’d seen just looked so uninspiring and too ‘homemade’ for my liking and I really wanted to create something that looked ‘professional’ and ‘finished’. I bought a couple of rubber stamp sets but still wasn’t properly inspired even though the designs were ‘nice’. Of course all that changed when I found PTI … !

How did you get into PTI and why do you love it so much?

I was actually in search for the ‘perfect’ cream ink to stamp with. Just the right shade and coverage, even on darker cardstock. I initially was searching for the SU! Very Vanilla inkpad but that isn’t available in the UK, so I e-mailed some SU! Demos who lived abroad. One of them suggested PTI’s Vintage Cream so I went off to have a look! From there I joined the PTI Forum and started looking at Nichole’s blog. It was close to around the May Release so there was a lot of hubbub and excitement going on. I fell in love with some of the stamps and made my first purchase in June. The rest, as they say, is history!

Why do I love PTI so much? Gosh, there are so many reasons! The designs are just *perfect*, unique and contemporary but not too ‘modern’, not too ‘cutesy’ ... just right. The quality is unsurpassed. Everything co-ordinates perfectly, making it easy to pull together a finished look. The DT are so inspiring and never cease to amaze me, and finally the Customer Service, feedback and incorporation of customer suggestions just make PTI in a league of their own!!

What would you say is your stamping style?

Hmmm. I’m not sure I’ve been stamping long enough to have settled on a ‘signature’ stamping style yet. I’m still learning and playing so much and always trying to experiment with something new. I’d say that my style definitely isn’t CAS though! I don’t like to overcrowd my cards but I always like to keep challenging and pushing myself, so I like to include creating different patterns and splicing them together and then just adding finishing touches to give it that something ‘extra’. So maybe it’s ‘experimental’ without being too out there, and without being fussy, lol!

Do you have a favourite PTI colour or colour combo that just makes you drool?

I love experimenting with different colour combos so I’m not sure I have a definite favourite yet! However a recent card I made had a colour scheme of Vintage Cream, Kraft, Spring Moss, Plum Pudding (with touches of some pink in the pattern) and Melon Berry and that one definitely left me drooling!! I know it sounds over-busy and possibly even garish, but you wait ‘til you see it!!

If you had to choose just one PTI stamp set to keep, which one would it be and why?

Oh Gosh, how difficult is that?! Coming from someone who already owns *38* sets (and with no sign of that number staying still!) you’re almost asking the impossible!! I guess if I had to pick my absolute favourite/staple it would be Guide Lines II. I *love* making my own background patterns and this set really can do it all – masculine, feminine, complex, CAS, there are no limits!

Who is your PTI Idol?

Of all the DT I have to say that Dawn McVey is my idol without a doubt. Her style is so modern, effortless and stunning, and her colour combos are genius and to-die-for! She’s definitely my inspiration! But of course I can’t go answering this without adding ‘Ms PTI’ herself – Nichole Heady. After all without her we wouldn’t even have PTI, and her style and ideas are just awe-inspiring!

Where do you get your inspiration from?

Other than Nichole’s and the DT’s blogs I regularly check out the PTI Forum (especially around Blog Hop time!) where people post links to their blogs/galleries, and I also visit Splitcoaststampers on a regular basis and browse through the Gallery there, though I have to admit to only searching for PTI cards now!

What’s your stamping dream?

My dream come true would be to have my cards published, ideally in ‘Cards’ magazine or ‘Papercrafting’, both of which are US publications. The ultimate dream of course would be to get onto a Design Team but I’d be more than happy with just the first one coming true – and that’s about a million times more likely to happen at least!!

Monday, 30 November 2009

The busy holiday season must be upon us in full swing as we only had two entries to our last challenge! So we've decided to give the random draw a miss this time round and instead send both entrants, Katie and Dawn, a little PTI goodie bag each!

Hello and Happy Monday everyone! We had such a wonderful weekend with Steph and Caryn at Steph's PTI Make and Take and can't believe it's over already! We all met at Steph's on Friday evening, and from the very first second got on like a house on fire!

Friday evening we all stayed up late putting the finishing touches to the packages for Steph's Papertrey Make and Take - here we are with Caryn doing some last minute stamping in Steph's AMAZING craft room!

Then Saturday morning came (after not much sleep lol!) and we were out the door early for some last minute food shopping for the afternoon, and on to the hall to prep for all our stamping guests!

And finally here we are with Steph and our lovely friend Dawn - poor Dawn has been ill for several weeks so it was fabulous she could make it!

I'm sorry we weren't able to get pics of everyone but we were running around so much and just didn't get around to it! Steph and Caryn both have lots more pictures on their blogs too!

Steph had prepared some fabulous projects using Papertrey Ink products for the Make and Take - here's what we made:

The afternoon went way too quickly and sadly we had to say goodbye to everyone - thank you so much to everyone who came, especially those who made long journeys, hopefully you all enjoyed your afternoon and enjoyed playing with some PTI goodies!

On Saturday evening we had a girls night in - PJs, chocolate, champagne and chatting into the early hours!

On Sunday we were up early again to head to Bluewater for breakfast, a touch of shopping and .... NEW MOON!!! We are all HUGE Twilight fans having read the books very recently and had been bursting with excitement about it for weeks!

Here we are at breakfast:

(left to right: Aimes, Steph, Caryn and Kate)

Aimes and Kate

Aimes, Kate and Steph

Needless to say the film was amazing, and we all reverted to being hysterical teenage girls, (should have taken more tissues!)

Phew, what a wonderful weekend! Thank you so much to Steph for being such a wonderful host and for all your hard work and generosity, and to Caryn and all the wonderful ladies who came to the Make and Take!

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The Passion for Papertrey Girls!

(from left: Kate Lewis, Caryn Davies, Amy Wanford)

Welcome to A Passion for Papertrey - a place where lovers of Papertrey Ink can get together to share ideas, inspiration, take part in challenges and join swaps!

We're Kate, Aimes and Caryn - we all live in the UK and became friends thanks to our mutual love of all things Papertrey. We soon found out there were lots of other fans in the UK and Europe and thought there should be a corner of the web to bring us together.

Of course we welcome readers from around the world but our primary aim is to unite stampers who use Papertrey products from the UK and the rest of Europe.

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Every fortnight we will set a challenge using Papertrey products AND at the end of each challenge we will randomly draw a winner who will recieve some Papertrey goodies! This may be a roll of ribbon, a selection of papers and matching cardstock or even a stamp set!!

We know that as it is an overseas company you may not have a large collection of stamps and Papertrey colours so these will be kept quite general.

For example if you don't have the Papertrey colours you could use one of their stamps and cardstock/papers from other companies, or get creative with just some Papertrey papers and ribbon - the main thing is to have fun!

We'd love to be able to share the projects that you've made with your Papertrey products! We're always looking for Papertrey projects so if you would like yours to be featured on here email us at apassionforpapertrey(at)yahoo(dot)com

Need inspiration? We will regularly feature Papertrey projects from stampers around the world - these may be the Papertrey Design team or other stampers who inspire us to use our Papertrey products in new ways.

We will be organising swaps for stampers to exchange their projects. Details coming soon!